The study also provides a new approach to solving one of the biggest enduring scientific mysteries: when did plate tectonics ...

This volcanic arc delineates the boundary between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. A subduction zone ... the Aleutian trench and volcanic island arc (Credit: Alaska Volcano ...

These types of collisions can also lead to underwater volcanoes that eventually build up into island arcs like Japan. At divergent boundaries in the oceans, magma from deep in the Earth's mantle ...